Travelogue

Product Notes

Since 2000, NY-D.C.-Chicago-Austin transplant, Architektur has played Downbeat and Dub in cities from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to Vienna, Austria. Now residing in Raleigh, Architektur released his debut album, Travelogue, on Burning Bowl Records. The disc features remixes by The Waz Experience (Vienna Scientists) and Canartic (Dank Disk). Architektur has composed music for film and television, including his award winning score for the documentary 'Lady Titans: A Title IX Victory'. Architektur hosts the Downbeat radio program 'Passport', which has featured exclusive interviews with Gotan Project, Rootz & Zeebo of Thievery Corporation, Rodney Hunter, Canartic, Bitter: Sweet and General Electrics, among others. Architektur also compiled the CD 'Musik For Film' (Burning Bowl Records), which features 'Downbeat' from many of the genres premier artists including: Rootz & Zeebo of Thievery Corporation (See-I), Rick Torres of the Supreme Beings Of Leisure and Bitter: Sweet (Lazy), Portishead contemporaries Sin, Jamie Saft of John Zorn's Masada, Professor Oz featuring Sugar B of Kruder & Dorfmeister's G-Stone and NuJazz pioneers Xploding Plastix, among 17 heavy hitters ... REVIEWS: 'Travelogue' requires multiple listens to even begin to appreciate the depths of it's treasures. Rather than falling into the familiar reggae-inspired vibe of much dub (though this album isn't without that influence), there is a much more ambient and experimental approach here. Yet the atmosphere conjured doesn't alienate the less adventurous listener - for the palpable mood is the very thing that envelopes the happy hearer of Architektur's mesmerizing release. Waves of stylishness wash across the listener, with many shifts and surprises along the way. 'Travelogue' is also sample-heavy, with odd bits of dialogue and verbage only adding to the curious resonance of this compelling album. 4.5 Stars! - Kristofer Upjohn (Raves.com / djfix.com) If you're wondering what's going to be playing in the halls of the mothership when we're all forced to leave this planet due to inevitable Malthusian catastrophe - Wall-E style, mark our words - you're reading the right review. One can easily image deciding between food pod rations whilst tapping their anti-gravity space-shoes to the retro organs and disembodied voiceovers of 'Ubahn (Underground)' as it wafts from the consumption depot speakers. Stroll down the promenade and gaze out into the depths of space as the eerie 1920s big band drowns in molten reverb before the leering percussion tears you away in 'Misinformation.' Finally, contemplate the ignominious fate of mankind at 3 a.m. some distant morning on your beige bunk in sector 4B, doomed to hurtle through the cosmos to the innocuous jazz pastiche and swirling detritus of closing track 'Mantra.' In short, this is an album to scare the pants off sci-fi enthusiasts, so pick up your favorite dystopian nightmare and shove these crazy jams in your ear. - Joshua Huck (Austinist.com) Architektur's album is an uncomfortable mix of those sounds that seem to be embedded in the walls of lifestyle lounges across the globe, jazzy little ethnically inclined samples of uncertain origin - there are no source musician credits - a sinking low into the luxurious sofa experience, with dubby sonics - the diminutive is intended - and mind boggling juxtapositions bagged together in a mix and scattered over an otherwise over smoove mix. Apparently the artist has played across the globe since 2000, I was expecting a more city centred sound and what better cities than Austin - where he's based - and Vienna to create some atmospheres, but when it's attempted on the track 'Misinformation' the forties swing band in the middle of a jiggly reggae tune is just like a thumb in the eye and again on 'Speedball' where Meat Beat Manifesto collides with Shorty Rogers. Totally perplexing is perhaps the point. - Steve Barker (The Wire / On The Wire - BBC Radio) (Polish Translation) Jazz, downtempo, dub - how many times have we spoke about them here? As you can see it's still not enough for us. For we have another great chance to listen to those sounds because of a new album from Burning Bowl Records. It's Architektur that I have in my mind and his lazy electronic-sound that for sure isn't a boring, secondary lame duck. Although 'Travelogue' is the first Architektur LP, we cannot talk about him like a debutant musician. He's one of those people who lives with music since ever. For many years he appeared regulary, host (radio) broadcast and creates music for film. Recently he tried his hand in making a compilation. And maybe that's the reason for surprising maturity and professionalism in making music. The thing that Architektur primarily proposes to give to us is a kind of a splendor for chillout rythms, which for years were produced by Kruder & Dorfmeister or Thievery Corporation. Of course our musician doesn't create his music better or in some revelatory way, but the final effect - this blissful relaxation that comes to the listener - is achieved perfectly. The album has been created just like that, with no pressure of brand new music landscapes, but with a background of well known techniques. Remarkably selected jazz and - rarely - swing samples are start-point for nice, sweet music themes. The theme of the album is Vienna: from one hand it's chillout, perfect for a relaxing walk during a warm afternoon, but on the other hand - dub, coming out from the metro tunnels. This stylistic cocktail combined with an interesting sound and high-level production creates very good music material. The fact is that these sounds won't surprise you, but well worth listening to them carefully to see their hidden potential. 'Travelogue' has one major flaw; it was released a few years too late. It doesn't mean that it's a copy of an old, well known downtempo albums. I'm just afraid that Architektur will have a difficult task reaching a wider audience, who feel a bit of a glut for that kind of music. A shame, because his debut album is one of the nicest music I've reviewed in a long time. So maybe it's worth taking a chance and trying lazy downtempo once again? - Rafal Mackowski (80bpm.net) A dense, layered, fascinating effort from Austin, TX "Travelouge" requires mulitple listens to even begin to delve into. The most apt desciption would be swirling through film scores while on a mild mannered mushroom trip. A gentle yet intense journey through a world of dubbed out beats and textures. Swimming through jazzy chords, psychedelic theremin patches and plucked strings. Not background music by any means, the album is best enjoyed through headphones after a night of partying, when your too high to sleep and don't want to watch a movie. A fine release that is cinematic in a way few acts can achieve. Excellent listening but not for the faint of heart. - Brian Gerhard (Massive Music America / couerdazure.com) CHARTS (2009): Travelogue - #43 KALX 90.7 FM Top 100 Releases for January Travelogue - #6 KPFA 94.1 FM RPM Chart (01/19) Travelogue - #10 KPFA 94.1 FM RPM Chart (01/12) CHARTS (2008): Architektur 'The Smoker' - 'Favourite Tracks of 2008' (Rupert-Mennert Radio / NL) Architektur 'The Smoker' - 'Dubmission 2008 Rewind - Best Of' (WYEP 91.3 FM) Architektur 'Ubahn (Underground)' - 'Sub-Zero 2008 Highlights' (RUA 102.7FM / PT) 'The Smoker (Resmoked by The Waz Exp)' - '2008 In Dub - Best Of' (WLUW 88.7FM / US) Travelogue - #5 Best Of 2008 - Rupert-Mennert Radio Travelogue - #7 KPFA 94.1 FM RPM Chart (11/10) Travelogue - #10 KPFA 94.1 FM RPM Chart (10/20) Travelogue - #4 KPFA 94.1 FM RPM Chart (09/22) Travelogue - #11 KVRX 91.7 FM Topless 39 (09/19) Travelogue - #10 KUCI 88.9 FM Top 30 (08/27) Burning Bowl - Number 1 Label - Properly Chilled (09/21) Quote this: 'the perfect loungey, dubby, Downtempo escape from Architektur...lovely album, lovely album, I can't say anything more' - Menno Jager (Rupert-Mennert radio / Play.fm) 'the smoker ROCKS! Would love to download!' - Erdem Tunakan (Cheap Records) 'absolutely superb, i'm enjoying the sound flow non stop!' - Sue Sanchez (Smiles Recordings) (Russian translation) 'this album really deserves attention...a mixture of jazz and downtempo. A deep, liquid sound and surrealistic atmosphere. A great album for a trip in itself.' - Samoe Vremya (Now Is The Time) 'DJ Architektur played the dreamiest, trippiest music I'd heard in many moons' - Stephen MacMillan Moser (Austin Chronicle)

Since 2000, NY-D.C.-Chicago-Austin transplant, Architektur has played Downbeat and Dub in cities from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to Vienna, Austria. Now residing in Raleigh, Architektur released his debut album, Travelogue, on Burning Bowl Records. The disc features remixes by The Waz Experience (Vienna Scientists) and Canartic (Dank Disk). Architektur has composed music for film and television, including his award winning score for the documentary 'Lady Titans: A Title IX Victory'. Architektur hosts the Downbeat radio program 'Passport', which has featured exclusive interviews with Gotan Project, Rootz & Zeebo of Thievery Corporation, Rodney Hunter, Canartic, Bitter: Sweet and General Electrics, among others. Architektur also compiled the CD 'Musik For Film' (Burning Bowl Records), which features 'Downbeat' from many of the genres premier artists including: Rootz & Zeebo of Thievery Corporation (See-I), Rick Torres of the Supreme Beings Of Leisure and Bitter: Sweet (Lazy), Portishead contemporaries Sin, Jamie Saft of John Zorn's Masada, Professor Oz featuring Sugar B of Kruder & Dorfmeister's G-Stone and NuJazz pioneers Xploding Plastix, among 17 heavy hitters ... REVIEWS: 'Travelogue' requires multiple listens to even begin to appreciate the depths of it's treasures. Rather than falling into the familiar reggae-inspired vibe of much dub (though this album isn't without that influence), there is a much more ambient and experimental approach here. Yet the atmosphere conjured doesn't alienate the less adventurous listener - for the palpable mood is the very thing that envelopes the happy hearer of Architektur's mesmerizing release. Waves of stylishness wash across the listener, with many shifts and surprises along the way. 'Travelogue' is also sample-heavy, with odd bits of dialogue and verbage only adding to the curious resonance of this compelling album. 4.5 Stars! - Kristofer Upjohn (Raves.com / djfix.com) If you're wondering what's going to be playing in the halls of the mothership when we're all forced to leave this planet due to inevitable Malthusian catastrophe - Wall-E style, mark our words - you're reading the right review. One can easily image deciding between food pod rations whilst tapping their anti-gravity space-shoes to the retro organs and disembodied voiceovers of 'Ubahn (Underground)' as it wafts from the consumption depot speakers. Stroll down the promenade and gaze out into the depths of space as the eerie 1920s big band drowns in molten reverb before the leering percussion tears you away in 'Misinformation.' Finally, contemplate the ignominious fate of mankind at 3 a.m. some distant morning on your beige bunk in sector 4B, doomed to hurtle through the cosmos to the innocuous jazz pastiche and swirling detritus of closing track 'Mantra.' In short, this is an album to scare the pants off sci-fi enthusiasts, so pick up your favorite dystopian nightmare and shove these crazy jams in your ear. - Joshua Huck (Austinist.com) Architektur's album is an uncomfortable mix of those sounds that seem to be embedded in the walls of lifestyle lounges across the globe, jazzy little ethnically inclined samples of uncertain origin - there are no source musician credits - a sinking low into the luxurious sofa experience, with dubby sonics - the diminutive is intended - and mind boggling juxtapositions bagged together in a mix and scattered over an otherwise over smoove mix. Apparently the artist has played across the globe since 2000, I was expecting a more city centred sound and what better cities than Austin - where he's based - and Vienna to create some atmospheres, but when it's attempted on the track 'Misinformation' the forties swing band in the middle of a jiggly reggae tune is just like a thumb in the eye and again on 'Speedball' where Meat Beat Manifesto collides with Shorty Rogers. Totally perplexing is perhaps the point. - Steve Barker (The Wire / On The Wire - BBC Radio) (Polish Translation) Jazz, downtempo, dub - how many times have we spoke about them here? As you can see it's still not enough for us. For we have another great chance to listen to those sounds because of a new album from Burning Bowl Records. It's Architektur that I have in my mind and his lazy electronic-sound that for sure isn't a boring, secondary lame duck. Although 'Travelogue' is the first Architektur LP, we cannot talk about him like a debutant musician. He's one of those people who lives with music since ever. For many years he appeared regulary, host (radio) broadcast and creates music for film. Recently he tried his hand in making a compilation. And maybe that's the reason for surprising maturity and professionalism in making music. The thing that Architektur primarily proposes to give to us is a kind of a splendor for chillout rythms, which for years were produced by Kruder & Dorfmeister or Thievery Corporation. Of course our musician doesn't create his music better or in some revelatory way, but the final effect - this blissful relaxation that comes to the listener - is achieved perfectly. The album has been created just like that, with no pressure of brand new music landscapes, but with a background of well known techniques. Remarkably selected jazz and - rarely - swing samples are start-point for nice, sweet music themes. The theme of the album is Vienna: from one hand it's chillout, perfect for a relaxing walk during a warm afternoon, but on the other hand - dub, coming out from the metro tunnels. This stylistic cocktail combined with an interesting sound and high-level production creates very good music material. The fact is that these sounds won't surprise you, but well worth listening to them carefully to see their hidden potential. 'Travelogue' has one major flaw; it was released a few years too late. It doesn't mean that it's a copy of an old, well known downtempo albums. I'm just afraid that Architektur will have a difficult task reaching a wider audience, who feel a bit of a glut for that kind of music. A shame, because his debut album is one of the nicest music I've reviewed in a long time. So maybe it's worth taking a chance and trying lazy downtempo once again? - Rafal Mackowski (80bpm.net) A dense, layered, fascinating effort from Austin, TX "Travelouge" requires mulitple listens to even begin to delve into. The most apt desciption would be swirling through film scores while on a mild mannered mushroom trip. A gentle yet intense journey through a world of dubbed out beats and textures. Swimming through jazzy chords, psychedelic theremin patches and plucked strings. Not background music by any means, the album is best enjoyed through headphones after a night of partying, when your too high to sleep and don't want to watch a movie. A fine release that is cinematic in a way few acts can achieve. Excellent listening but not for the faint of heart. - Brian Gerhard (Massive Music America / couerdazure.com) CHARTS (2009): Travelogue - #43 KALX 90.7 FM Top 100 Releases for January Travelogue - #6 KPFA 94.1 FM RPM Chart (01/19) Travelogue - #10 KPFA 94.1 FM RPM Chart (01/12) CHARTS (2008): Architektur 'The Smoker' - 'Favourite Tracks of 2008' (Rupert-Mennert Radio / NL) Architektur 'The Smoker' - 'Dubmission 2008 Rewind - Best Of' (WYEP 91.3 FM) Architektur 'Ubahn (Underground)' - 'Sub-Zero 2008 Highlights' (RUA 102.7FM / PT) 'The Smoker (Resmoked by The Waz Exp)' - '2008 In Dub - Best Of' (WLUW 88.7FM / US) Travelogue - #5 Best Of 2008 - Rupert-Mennert Radio Travelogue - #7 KPFA 94.1 FM RPM Chart (11/10) Travelogue - #10 KPFA 94.1 FM RPM Chart (10/20) Travelogue - #4 KPFA 94.1 FM RPM Chart (09/22) Travelogue - #11 KVRX 91.7 FM Topless 39 (09/19) Travelogue - #10 KUCI 88.9 FM Top 30 (08/27) Burning Bowl - Number 1 Label - Properly Chilled (09/21) Quote this: 'the perfect loungey, dubby, Downtempo escape from Architektur...lovely album, lovely album, I can't say anything more' - Menno Jager (Rupert-Mennert radio / Play.fm) 'the smoker ROCKS! Would love to download!' - Erdem Tunakan (Cheap Records) 'absolutely superb, i'm enjoying the sound flow non stop!' - Sue Sanchez (Smiles Recordings) (Russian translation) 'this album really deserves attention...a mixture of jazz and downtempo. A deep, liquid sound and surrealistic atmosphere. A great album for a trip in itself.' - Samoe Vremya (Now Is The Time) 'DJ Architektur played the dreamiest, trippiest music I'd heard in many moons' - Stephen MacMillan Moser (Austin Chronicle)